diff --git a/easy_thumbnails/storage.py b/easy_thumbnails/storage.py
index 58e2867e..0e29c244 100644
--- a/easy_thumbnails/storage.py
+++ b/easy_thumbnails/storage.py
@@ -4,6 +4,21 @@
 
 from easy_thumbnails.conf import settings
 
+def get_storage():
+    # If the user has specified a custom storage backend, use it.
+    if getattr(settings, "THUMBNAIL_DEFAULT_STORAGE", None):
+        try:
+            storage_class = get_storage_class(settings.THUMBNAIL_DEFAULT_STORAGE)
+            class ThumbnailDefaultStorage(LazyObject):
+                def _setup(self):
+                    self._wrapped = storage_class()
+            return ThumbnailDefaultStorage()
+        except (ImportError, TypeError):
+            from django.core.files.storage import storages
+            return storages[settings.THUMBNAIL_DEFAULT_STORAGE]
+
+    return None
+
 
 @deconstructible
 class ThumbnailFileSystemStorage(FileSystemStorage):
@@ -22,10 +37,4 @@ def __init__(self, location=None, base_url=None, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(location, base_url, *args, **kwargs)
 
 
-class ThumbnailDefaultStorage(LazyObject):
-    def _setup(self):
-        self._wrapped = get_storage_class(
-            settings.THUMBNAIL_DEFAULT_STORAGE)()
-
-
-thumbnail_default_storage = ThumbnailDefaultStorage()
+thumbnail_default_storage = get_storage()